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"Kcv, curious it is that 50 years ago just this March the then 
owner of Monticelio, whose name was Uriah P. Levy, should have 
died in the city of New York and before dying should have made a 
wonderful will, a will to secure Monticello to the people of the 
United States." 




MRS. MARTIN W. LITTLETON 



OF NEW YORK 



Printed in the Congressional Record at the request of 

Hon. Richard W. Austin, of Tennessee 

April 13, 1912 



^ 



".0701 lOSOG 



WASHINGTON 
1912 




j^SHsl 






ONE WISH 

r.v 

MRS. MARTIN W. LITTLETON. 



THOMAS J EFFEBSON. 

Mr. AUSTIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to ad- 
dress the House for one minute. 

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Aus- 
tin] asks unanimous consent to address the House for one 
minute. Is there objection. [After a pause.] The Chair hears 
nonet 

Mr. AUSTIN. Mr. Speaker, this is the anniversary of (he 
birth of Thomas Jefferson, the 13th day of April. He was born 
on the 13th day of April, 1743—169 years ago. I know of no 
public man to whom the American people owe a creator debl 
of gratitude than Thomas Jefferson. [Applause.] As a south- 
ern Republican Representative I desire this House to pause 
and consider for 'a moment what a debt we owe to him and 
what a debt the American people will for all time owe to his 
genius and his patriotism in drafting the immortal Declaration 
of Independence. [Applause.] I love and revere his memory 
as much as any man in this House, and I entertain the fond 
hope that before the adjournment of this Congress we will all 
see the wisdom and the justice of not only procuring his his- 
toric home— Monticello, in Virginia — but erect in this magnifi- 
cent Capital City a fitting tribute in the way of a monument to 
his illustrious career and his great and invaluable services to 
the Republic. [Applause.] 

The SPEAKER. The time of the gentleman has expired. 

Mr. AUSTIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask permission to print in the 
Re< obd '• One wish," by a gifted and patriotic American woman, 
the wife of our distinguished colleague from New York [Mr. 
Littleton], a publication which is a patriotic labor of love. 
[Applause.] 

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. 
Austin] asks leave to extend his remarks in the Regobd. Is 
there objection? [After a pause. | The Chair hoars none. 
30701—10896 3 



ont: wish. 

[A copy of a letter from Mrs. Martin \V. Littleton to her Long Island 

friends.] 

" LlTTLECOTE, 

" Poht Washington, Long Island, 

"Xcw York, August 30, 1911. 

"My Dear Friends: This letter was written to you in Wash- 
ington, and somebody forgot to mail it, till now I am afraid it 
is too late. But it is not really a letter, anyway, for there is 
nothing personal between you and me in it, or anything newsy; 
nor is it an essay, for there is not enough learning in it. The 
only thing I can call it is a wish, my one wish. But you must 
wait till the end, like shutting your eyes aud waiting for the 
wagonload of hay to pass out of sight, before you can know 
what my one wish is. I hope you have made the same wish, 
and that they both may come true. My wish is about Thomas 
Jefferson. 

"It seems when the Nation was very young, and first start- 
ing out, its Government was without a home. It was worn- 
out from fighting battles, and could hanlly see through the 
smoke. Those whom it had fought were hoping it would come 
to grief. Its own friends were quarrelling. States were ar- 
rayed against States. Constantly the North and South were 
picking at each other, as some brothers do. Its friends were 
jealous of the affections of each other for it, and it could not 
stay in the house of any of them. It was without money. The 
Treasury was empty. The wars had cost a lot. Soldiers were 
without pay, and were clamoring for the price of its freedom. 
Weary and faint, young and all alone in the world, there was 
no place to rest. Almost out of breath, it hardly had strength 
to go on doing the great things it had to do. Like a fugitive, 
it wandered from place to place, through stormy times, witli 
not a roof to over i!s head. And the clouds were dark and 
threatening ahore it. Some said they were war clouds. They 
looked black and angry. A shelter mtisl lie found. A seat of 
government. A capital city. The North wanted the honor of 
being its birthplace. The South wanted it just as much. Con- 
gress must settle the dispute. It had its hands full. Speeches 
were made, claims were urged, inducements offered, bills 
passed, amendments added, decision delayed. Still there was 
no seat of government, no site chosen, until Jefferson and Ham- 
ilton agreed about it. Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of 
the Treasury, and was much troubled over the debts for our 
war with England There was nothing to pay them with, lie 
39701 l os-jo - 



^\° 






hardly knew which way to (urn. There seemed no way out of 
i !•< able. The tiling he most feared was that the Union might be 
dissolved on account of them. Ho could think of nothing to 
prevent it, except that the Southern states would consent that 
tli.so debts should ho assumed by the Federal Government. 
This he confided to Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was Secretary 
of State. He could not bear to see the Union dissolved, any 
more than Hamilton could. So, to avert this disaster, he would 
do anything. He would not even object if Congress passed a 
'funding act,' permitting the Federal Government to pay these 
debts. Hamilton, not less patriotic, said he would not object to 
the cause Jefferson had espoused. A cause he had espoused 
with his whole heart, as a bridegroom bis bride. The cause 
was that of locating the Capital City in his beloved South. One 
day it was agreed to. An act of Congress was then passed 
to establish the seat of government in a 'district or territory 
noi exceeding 10 miles square, to be located on the river 
Potomac' 

"What a precious gift to the South! May it never cease to 
be grateful to Thomas Jefferson ; 

" Then and there a city was born. A Capital City for all time 
to come. It was born in the brain of man, and it found a place 
in the hearts of all men. It was held in the encircling arms of 
a mighty river. It was nursed in the lap of a valley, sweet and 
soli as a mother's. It was fed by fertile fields, rich in yellow 
corn and wheat that in snnshine turned to solid gold. Clear, 
cool springs watered it. Hills of royal colors sheltered it with 
their forests on top, glistening like crowns. It was protected 
by cordons of mountains going around, their walls a thick 
barrier between it and harm. In the blue, blue distance they 
looked like brave soldiers covered with smoke from belching 
cannon. 

"That was just a little more than a hundred years ago. 

"Then began a labor of love. Washington! Jefferson! 
L'Enfant! Laborers! Master builders ! Masterminds! 

"They made maps; they made surveys; they studied architec- 
ture and laid out parks, avenues, and streets; and budded a city. 
A city of every nation, a world's shrine. 

"They built it in the heart of a great, deep, dark forest; a 
heart warm and tender with a soft place in it big enough to 
hold all who wish to enter. Its goodness is above everything else 
in the world. 

"Its woods have become peopled with tall, gray monuments 
of giant heroes, and children that laugh and play with their 
images in its clear pools, filling it full of sounds of music. It 
39701— 1089G 



G 

p. sweet ami sylvan with the notes of mocking birds, and sounds 
of bluebirds and redbirds. Gay little squirrels scamper and run 
about through the leaves of the trees, lively as recollections that 
sometimes go running through one's head. Its dark nooks and 
recesses are lighted up with the white marble buildings of the 
Government. They look like noble Greek palaces. Myriads of 
their white pillars gleam through the black woods like lighted 
candles in a solemn cathedral. The religious sound of silvery 
church bells hallows it and gives to everyone a sense of com- 
fort. Its gray-paved streets are cut through wooded paths 
edged with shrubbery and leafiness. All of them lead to yonder 
green hill whereon rests our Capitol Building, wdiite, pure 
white, with not a shadow across it. It sits as a light on a hill. 

"Tucked away under branches and vines are the houses sur- 
rounded by hedges. Window boxes seem to grow from them 
everywhere, with flowers tumbling down from them to touch 
the earth. Most of the houses are new and fine. Some look 
proud and fat. They crush between them tiny little old 
cottages, and keep the sun from shining in their gardens of 
vines and flowers. But the tiny cottages are not afraid or 
ashamed for they enjoy the distinction id' history and quaint- 
noss of age which the newer ones must enviously wait for. 

"The city covers about G,000 acres; nearly 4,000 of this they 
thought best to lay out in parks and streets. They knew in 
building a Capital City in the South thai plenty and plenty of 
room was needed for air and breezes; and they believed every 
house would be healthier to have gardens. Streets were made 
miles long and acres wide and beautiful with great, long vistas. 
Tall trees grew along their sides, and when passershy come 
underneath them they bend their heads over to shade them from 
the sun. 

"Not long ago I attended the unveiling of a monumqnt to 
the memory of I/Enfant, one of the master builders. It was 
at Arlington, once the home of Eoberl 1'.. Lee, general of the 
Confederacy, a soldier among soldiers. The house is big and 
white, and empty now. Booms and halls are quiet as death, 
except for the noise the silence makes. The windows are closed 
like eyes thai can not see and sunken deep in like hollow 
caverns. The rooms seem to want to push out of the cold and 
dark into the warm sunshine. The ceilings hang high above 
the floor and are full of echoes thai answer every whisper. 
The walls are covered with zigzag cracks that look like mys- 
terious writing, and l wondered if there were anyone who 
could read them. These cracks must lie very old and able to 
; lot. I loved the old floors made of broad, thick wooden 
39701 1089G 



boards. Dim, dusky shadows lay across them, and wfien I 
walked over them 1 thought I could hear other footsteps fol- 
lowing falling softly and quietly. I was even sure of hearing 
breathing. And I could not help looking to see if some one 
were coming back of me. I was wondering all the time if the 
dead are really gone. If life is not death, and if death is not 
resurrection. Great spirits seem to live -seem always to live 
among us — even though their bodies have left us. They seem to 
live in their works and in the seeds they have planted and in 
all around us. I walked out on the portico and stood between 
two great while pillars. 1 could look across the hills with 
lovely valleys in between and see the ground covered with lit He 
white headstones like flakes of snow fallen from the sky. The 
graves were lying in beds of tender grass and covered with 
blankets of moss soft as down. Over them were bent forest 
frees. The stirring and swaying of their loaves sounded like 
sad voices whispering to each other. Sounds of other voices 
made me look around and I saw crowds of people. In the mid- 
dle of them was a monument covered with bunting streaming in 
red, white, and blue mixed with the colors of France. Then I 
heard the voice of the President of the United States, the voice 
of Ambassador Jusserand, and the voice of Senator Root dedi- 
cating this monument to the memory of L'Enfant and laying at 
his feet the praise and thanks of an appreciative .Nation. And 
a little farther on I could see the river at the foot of the bill 
winding about like a silver thread. Willow trees garlanded and 
wreathed its banks. Their tender branches streamed into the 
water without making a sound like tears that flow without a 
sob. 

"Yet in the slid farther distance from us I could see a 
tall marble shaft. It was of heavenly white without a blemish. 
It rose far away and above us in the luminous sunshine and 
beautiful blue sky like a gigantic, glorious ghost. 

"A grateful Nation had erected it to the memory of George 
Washington, one of the master builders. I listened and listened 
to the voices to hear the name of Jefferson, the other master 
builder. And as I stood on that hill and looked from Arlington 
to Mount Vernon, from Mount Vernon to Charlottesville, and 
from Charlottesville to Washington, I thought of these three 
great men. They were all in my mind together. And as I 
looked there in the city of 20,000 dead and looked across at 
another city of 200,000 living I thought of Jefferson. And I 
could not see a monument or a shaft or a tombstone in his honor, 
In all this glorious temple of trees and marble there was no 
niche reserved for him. Jefferson's impress upon the city aud 
39701— 10S9G 



upon the world is broader than that of any other man — and 
though he has gone out of our lives, not one of the things he did 
is gone; all remain, all live, all ours, except his sleeping body. 
Montieello, his beloved mountain, holds that high above all 
other monuments, lifting it into the clear, pure air above us. 
Ho was born at its bottom, and while he lies dead in its sum- 
mit democracy lives. 

" It was he who had faith in man. It was he who fought for a 
now Government, founded upon the belief that all men are 
equal. It was he who budded an asylum for the oppressed of all 
nations. It was he who had the laws of primogeniture and 
entail abolished, and made the young son eerual with the elder 
brother. It was he who caused the separation of church and 
state, and made it possible for all men to profess their religious 
belief, without fear of oppression, whether Protestant, Catholic, 
or Jew. It was he who spoke the first words in behalf of tlie 
freedom of the Negroes before any other American statesman, 
and if this bill, the ' Ordinance of the Northwestern Territory,' 
prohibiting slavery after 1S00, had passed, our great Civil War 
would never have been fought. He drew the bill establishing 
our present system of coinage and currency on the decimal 
basis. Everyone knows that the last work his hands found to 
do, when he was an old, old man, was to inaugurate and build 
a great democratic university for Virginia, the first real uni- 
versity in America. He believed that in a representative democ- 
racy education and intellectual freedom were necessary. 

" Without sword and with only his pen he took over from 
Napoleon Bonaparte for the United States the great Southwest- 
ern Territory, known as the Louisiana Purchase, and added 11 
Slates to the Union. He created and wrote five great State 
papers, from which Americans have learned their lessons of 
freedom. 

" The sublimest one of all he wrote was the Declaration of 
American Independence. It brought to all people free gifts of 
conscience, free gifts of thought, free gifts of speech, free gifts 
of education, free gifts of ballot, free gifts of press, free gifts 
of religion, and free gifts to all men of the ' rights to life, lib- 
erty, and the pursuit of happiness.' The only one thing he was 
too poor to give free to the people, for whom he had already 
done so much, was Montieello, containing his birthplace, his 
home, and his own dead body. That he had to leave to be sold at 
auction to the highest bidder. / 

"Sixty-one years of public service lefl him on the auction 
block. Just at this time I could not help but remember about 
all these things. I also remembered his dislike of hero worship. 
39701 — 10S0G 



Tt was so extreme thai he begged his followers not to celebrate 
the anniversary of his birth. 

"But God did not intend for him to be forgotten — this man 
who was a disciple of goodness to all humanity. And when 
Jefferson's work was done and God received him unto Himself, 
Ho chose to do it on the clay of July 4, 1826, the anniversary 
day of the declaration of American independence. So we can 
never forget. On the day of his death there was found written 
on the torn hack of an old letter, in his own handwriting, the 
following directions for his monument and inscription : 

" On a grave, a plain die or cube of 3 feet, without any moldings, 
surmounted by an obelisk of 6 feet height, each of a single stone ; on 
the face of the obelisk the following inscription, and not a word more : 

" Here was buried 

" Thomas Jefferson 

"Author of the 

"Declaration of American Independence 

" Of tbe statute of Virginia 

" Religious freedom 

"And father of the University of Virginia 

" Because of these as testimonials that I have lived I wish most to 
be remembered. It to be of the coarse stone of which my columns are 
made, that no one may be tempted hereafter to destroy it for the value 
of the materials. My bust, by Carracchi, with the pedestal and trun- 
cated column on which it stands, might be given to the university if 
they would place it in the dome room of the rotunda." 

"His great-granddaughter, Sarah N. Randolph, writes this: 
'Jefferson's efforts to save his monument from mutilation by 
having it made of coarse stone have been futile. His grandson, 
Col. Randolph, followed his directions in erecting the monument 
which is placed over him. He lies buried between his wife and 
his daughter, Mary Eppes. Across the head of these three graves 
lies the remains of his eldest daughter. Martha Randolph. This 
group lies in front of a gap in the high brick wall which sur- 
rounds the whole graveyard, the gap being filled by a high iron 
grating, giving a full view of the group, that there might be no 
excuse for forcing open the high iron gates which close the en- 
trance to the graveyard. But all precautions have been in vain. 
The gates have been again and again broken open, the graves 
entered, and the tomb desecrated. The edges of the granite obe- 
lisk over Jefferson's grave have been chipped away until it now 
stands a misshapen column. Of the slabs placed over the graves 
of Mrs. Jefferson and Mrs. Eppes not a vestige remains, while 
of the one over Mrs. Randolph only fragments are left' 

"And I thought how much more in keeping with his sense of 
freedom and love of nature if, instead of erecting a statue to 
him in Washington, the Nation whom he loved so well were to 
39701—10306 



10 

purchase and preserve forever to his memory the house and 
grounds and graveyard at Monticello, new owned by Mr. Jeffeb- 
son Levy, of New York. 

" He is not one man's man. He belongs to the people who love 
hiin, for that be first loved tbern. He belongs not only to us 
and our people but to the people of all the world wherever 
liberty is. And their one wish is to be free to lay upon his 
grave a Nation's tears. It is my one wish, too. 

QUOTATION FROM THE WRITINGS OF COKNBLIS DB WITT. 

The nobler emotions of Democracy are of short duration ; it soon 
forgets its most faithful servants. Six months had not elapsed when 
Jefferson's furniture was sold at auction to pay his debts, when Monti- 
cello and Poplar Forest were advertised for sale at the street corners, 
and when the daughter of him whom America had called " the father of 
Democracy " had no longer a place to rest her bead. (Thomas Jeffer- 
son, Etude Ilistorique sur la Democratic Americaine; par Cornells De 
Witt, p. 3b0.,» 

MR. JEFFERSON'S LETTER TO MR. MADISON. 

You will have seen in the newspapers some proceedings in the legis- 
lature which have cost me much mortification. * * * Still, sales 
at a fair price would leave me competently provided. Had crops and 
prices for several years been such as to maintain a steady competition 
of substantial bidders at market all would have been safe. But the 
long succession of years of stunted crops, of reduced prices, the general 
prostration of the farming business under levies for the support of 
manufacturers, etc.. with the calamitous fluctuations of value in our 
paper medium, have kept agriculture in a state of abject depression, 
which has peopled the Western States by silently breaking up those on 
the Atlantic, and glutted the land market while it drew off its bidders. 
In such a state of things property has lost its character of being a 
resource for debts. Highland in Bedford, which, in the days of our 
plethory, sold readily for from $50 to $100 the acre (and such sales 
were many then), would not now sell for more than from $10 to $20, 
or one-quarter or one-fifth of its former price. Reflecting on these 
things, the practice occurred to me of selling on fair valuation, and by 
way of lottery, often resorted to before the Revolution to effect large 
sales, and still in constant usage in every State for individual as well 
as corporation purposes. If it is permitted in my case, my lands here 
alone, with the mills, etc., will pay everything and will leave me 
Monticello and a farm free. If refused, I must sell every thing here, 
perhaps considerably in Bedford, move thither with my family, where 
1 have not even a log hut to put my head into (the house at Poplar 
Foresl had passed out of his possession), and where ground for burial 
will depend on the depredations which, under the form of sales, shall 
have been committed on my properly. 

The question, then, witli me was utrum horum. But why afflict you 
with these details Indeed, I can not tell, unless pains are lessened by 
communication with a friend. The friendship which has subsisted be- 
tween us, now half a century, and the harmony of our political prin- 
ciples and pursuits have been sources of constant happiness to me 
through that long period. And if I remove beyond the reach of atten- 
tions to the university, or beyond the bourne of life itself, as I soon 
39701 10S9G 



11 

must, it is a comfort to leave that institution under your cam, and an 
assurance that it will not be wanting. It has also been a great solace 
to me to believe that you are engaged in vindicating to posterity the 
course we have pursued for preserving to them in all their purity the 
blessings of self-government, which we had assisted, too, in acquiring 
for (hem. If ever the earth has beheld a system of adminlsti 
conducted with a single and steadfast eye to the general interest and 
happiness of those committed to it — one which, protected by truth, can 
never know reproach — it is that to which our lives have beeB de 
To myself you have been a pillar of support through life. Take care 
of me when dead, and be assured that I shall leave with you my last 
affections. 

A DESCRIPTION OF MONTICELLO. 
(By Due de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt.) 

Monticello is situated 3 miles from Milton, in that chain of moun- 
tains which stretches from James River to the Rappahannock, 28 
miles in front of the Blue Ridge, and in a direction parallel to those 
mountains. This chain, which runs uninterrupted in its small extent, 
assumes successively the names of the West, South, and Green Moan 
tains. 

It is in the part known by the name of the South Mountains that 
Monticello is situated. The house stands on the summit of the moun- 
tain, and the taste and arts of Europe have been consulted in the 
formation of its plan. Mr. Jefferson had commenced its construction 
before the American Revolution; since that epoeha his life has been 
constantly engaged in public affairs, and he has not been able to com- 
plete the execution of the whole extent of the project which it seems 
he had at first conceived. That part of the building which was fin- 
ished has suffered from the suspension of the work, and Mr. Jefferson, 
who two years since resumed the habit s and leisure of -private life, is 
now employed in repairing the damage, occasioned by this interruption 
and still more by his absence; he continues his original plan, and even 
improves on it by giving to his buildings more elevation and extent. 
He intends that they shall consist only of one story, crowned with bal- 
ustrades; and a dome is to be constructed in the center of the struc- 
ture. The apartments will be large and convenient; the decoration, 
both outside and inside, simple yet regular and elegant. Monticello, 
according to its first plan, was infinitely superior to all other houses in 
America in point of taste and convenience, but at that time Mr. Jeffer- 
son had studied taste and the fine arts in books only. His travels in 
Europe have supplied him with models; he has appropriated them to 
his design; and bis new plan, the execution of which is already much 
advanced, will be accomplished before the end of next year, and then 
his house will certainly deserve to be ranked with the most pleasant 
mansions in France and England. 

Mr. Jefferson's house commands one of the most extensive prospects 
you can meet with. On the east side, the front of the building, the eye 
is not clicked by any object, since the mountain on which the house is 
seated commands all the neighboring heights as far as the Chesapeake. 
The Atlantic might be seen, were it not for the greatness of the dis- 
tance, which renders that prospect impossible. On the right and left 
the eye commands the extensive valley that separates the Green, South, 
and West Mountains from the Blue Ridge, and has no other bounds but 
these high mountains, of which, on a clear day, you discern the chain 
on tiie right upward of a hundred miles, far beyond James River; and 
30701 - 10800 



12 

on the left as far as Maryland, on (ho other side of the Potomac. 
Through some intervals formed by the irregular summits of the Blue 
Mountains, you discover the Peaked Ridge, a chain of mountains placed 

i c: \ o the Blue and North Mountains, another more distant ridge. 

But in the back part the prospect is soon interrupted by a mountain 
more elevated than that on which the house is seated. The hounds of 
the view on this point, at so small a distance, form a pleasant resting 
place, as the immensity of prospect it enjoys is perhaps already too 
vast. A considerable number of cultivated tields, houses, and barns, 
enliven and variegate the extensive landscape, still more embellished by 
the beautiful and diversified forms of mountains in the whole chain of 
which not one resembles another. 

DEScnirTiON of monticello. 

(By Lieut. Hall, of the British Army.) 

Having- an introduction to Mr. Jefferson (Mr. Hall writes), I as- 
cended his little mountain on a line morning, which gave the situation 
its due effect. The whole of the sides and base are covered with forest, 
through which roads have been cut circularly, so that the winding may 
be shortened at pleasure ; the summit is an open lawn, near to the south 
side of which the house is built, with its garden just descending the 
brow; the salon, or central hall, is ornamented with several pieces of 
antique sculpture, Indian arms, mammoth bones, and other curiosities 
collected from various parts of the Union. I found Mr. Jefferson tall iu 
person, bul stooping and lean with old age, thus exhibiting the fortu- 
nate mode of bodily decay which strips the frame of its most cumber- 
some parts, leaving it still strength of muscle and activity of limb. 
His deportment was exactly such as the Marquis de Chastellux describes 
il above 30 years ago. "At first serious, nay, even cold," but in a very 
short time relaxing into a most agreeable amenity, with an unabated 
How of conversation on the most interesting topics discussed in the 
most gentlemanly and philosophical manner. 

I walked with him round his grounds, to visit his pet trees and 
improvements of various kinds. During the walk he pointed out to 
my observation a conical mountain, rising singly at the edge of the 
southern horizon of the landscape; its distance, he said, was -10 miles, 
and its dimensions those of the greater Egyptian pyramid; so that it 
actually represents the appearance of the pyramid at the same distance. 
There is a small cleft visible on the summit, through which the true 
meridian of Monticello exactly passes; its most singular property, how- 
ever, is that on different occasions it looms or alters its appearance, 
becoming sometimes cylindrical, sometimes square, and sometimes 
assuming the form of an inverted cone. Mr. Jefferson had not been 
able to connect this phenomenon with any particular season or state of 
the atmosphere, except that it most commonly occurred in (he forenoon. 
He observed that it was not only wholly unaccounted for by the laws 
of vision, (ml thai it bad not as yet engaged the attention of philoso- 
phers, so far as to acquire a name; that of •'looming" being, in fact, 
a term applied by sailors to appearances of a similar kind at sea. The 
Blue Mountains are also observed to loom, though not in so remark- 
able a degree. * * * 

I slept a night at Monticello, and left it in the morning, with such 
n feeling as the traveler quits the moldering remains of a Grecian 
temple, or the pilgrim a fountain in the desert. It would, indeed, argue 
a great torpor, both of understanding and heart, to have looked with- 
out veneration or interest on the man who drew up the Declaration of 
yM7»il 1089G 



13 

American Independence, who shared in the councils hy which her free- 
dom was established; whom the unbought voice of his fellow citizens 
called to the exercise of a dignity from which his own moderation im- 
pelled him, when such an example was most salutary, to withdraw ; and 
who, while he dedicates the evening of his glorious days to the pursuits 
of science and literature, shuns none of the humbler duties of private 
life; but, having a seat higher than that of kings, succeeds with 

graceful dignity to that of the good neighbor, and tx oes the friendly 

adviser, lawyer, physician, and even gardener of his vicinity. This is 
the still small voice of philosophy, deeper and holier than the lightnings 
and earthquakes which have preceded it. What monarch would venture 
thus to exhibit himself in the nakedness of his humanity? On what 
royal brow would the laurel replace the diadem? But they who are 
born and educated to be kings are not expected to be philosophers. 
This is a just answer, though no great compliment, cither to the gov- 
ernors or the governed. 



ONE WISH AND A W1T.L. 

(The day of Thomas Jefferson's birth, April IP., 1743.) 

" Since writing down my wish, I was running over some 
volumes the other day, when my eyes fell upon an old record 
showing that I am not the only one who believed the people 
of the United States should own Monticello, the birthplace, 
home, and burial place of Thomas Jefferson, author of the 
Declaration of Independence. 

"My wish, I find, is supported by the wish and will of the 
ancestor of the present owner. 

"How curious it is that HO years ago just this March the 
then owner of Monticello, whose name was Uriah P. Levy, 
should have died in the city of New York, and before dying 
should have made a wonderful will, a will to secure Monti- 
cello to the people of the United States. Part of this will I 
found is in the Reports of New York Court of Appeals, vol- 
ume 33, page 97, and in Barbour's Reports, 40. Here is what 
the report says: 

" Uriah P. Levy, the testator, died in the city of New York, where, 
he was domiciled, in March, 1852, leaving surviving a widow, brothers 
and sisters, nephews and nieces, his heirs at law and next of kin. He 
died seized of real estate in the city of New York of the value of 
§200,000, and his personal property was inventoried at 8131,000. lie 
also was the owner of a farm at Monticello, in Virginia, containing 
between 2,000 and 3,000 acres (formerly the residence of President 
Jefferson), and another estate, called the Washington farm, of about 
1,100 acres, with the tanning Implements, cattle, etc., on both prop- 
erties. 

" By his will, after other provisions, the testator devised his farm 
and estate at Monticello, together with the residue of his- estate, real 
and personal, 'to the people of the United States, or such persons 
as Congress shall appoint to receive it, in trust, for the sole and only 
purpose of establishing and maintaining at said farm of Monticello, 
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in Virginia, an agricultural school for the purpose of educating as 
practical farmers children of the warrant officers of the United States 
Navy whose fathers are dead,' etc. But should the Congress of the 
United States refuse to accept the bequest or to take the necessary 
s;.j^ to any out the testator's intention, then he devised the same 
'to the people of the Slate of Virginia, instead 1 of the people of the 
United States, provided they, by acts of their legislature, accept it 
and carry it out, as herein directed.' And should the people of Vir- 
ginia, by the neglect of their legislature, decline to accept the said 
bequest, then he gave the same to certain Hebrew congregations in the 
cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond, 'provided they pro- 
cure the necessary legislation to entitle them to bold said estate and 
stablisb an agricultural school at said Montioello for the children 
aid societies who are between the ages of 12 and 10 years and 
whose fathers are dead, and also similar children of any other de- 
nomination, Hebrew or Christian.' 

"Item: I direct m; rs, hereinafter named, or such of them 

as shall qualify, lo invest the funds as fast as they accumulate, and 
to hold the whole of the property and estate hereby devised and uc- 
qucathed for said school and in their hands until the proper steps have 
l een taken by Congress or the Legislature of Virginia or the said 
Hebrew benevolent congregations to receive the same and discharge 
said executors. 

"Lastly. I appoint the Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, David V. S. Cod 
dington, Ashel S. Levy, Lsq., and Joseph II. Patten, Esq., counselor at 
in the city of New Y/ork; Dr. Joshua Cohen, and Jacob I. Cohen, 
his brother, of Baltimore; George Carr, Esq., attorney at law, Char- 
lottesville, Va. ; and Dr. .John P.. Blacke, of Washington City, executors 
(f this my said will and testament and trustees of said estate, and 
in case of the death of either of my executors or trustees or their 
relinquishment or inability to a..t I direct that the remaining qualified 
:iors or trustees act without them.'' 

"Uriah P. Levy died March 122. LS62. His will was admitted 
to probate .Tunc 9, 1S62. The executors qualified June V2, 1862. 
Resolution (S. No. 137) \\ . duced in Congress and con- 

curred in by both Houses on March ::. 1S63, the lasl day of the 
session. In the Congressional Globe of that date we read: 

"Mr. Fessexdex. I wish to introduce a joint resolution to which 
nobody Kill object; it will explain itself on being read. It is very 
necessary to pass it immediately. 

"By unanimous consent leave was given to introduce the joint reso- 
lution ( S. Xo. 137) in relation to erty devised to the people 
of the United States by Capt. Uriah P. Levy, deceased, and it was read 
the first time. 

"It proposes to accept the devise and bequest of Capt. Levy of his 
Monticello farm in Virginia and his real estate in New York City in 
trust, to establish and maintain at Monticello an agricultural school 
for the education of the children of warrant officers of the Navy and 
to appoint William M. Eva. its. Erastus Corning, and Lewis P.. Woodruff, 
of New York, to receive the property and report their proceedings to 
the next Congress. 

"Mr. Fesskndex. It will be observed that this will bequeaths a con- 
siderable amount of property — it is said to amount to about $."00,000, 
including an estate at Monticello and a considerable estate in the city 
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15 

of New York- to the Government of the Doited States. The whole 
amount bequeathed, I am told, will reach that sum. The only question 
is whether Congress will accept it for the purposes therein named. It 
L for the consideration of Congress. I understand that if the United 
Stairs refuse to accept it. then it is devised to the State of Virginia; 
and if they refuse to accept it, then to somebody else. 

" .Mr. Harris. We must accept a lawsuit with it. I understand the 
heirs are contesting the validity of the will. 

" .Mr. Fi:ssr;.\"Di:\. I submit it to the consideration of the Senate. 

" Mr. Latham. I should like to inquire of the Senator from Maine 
whether there is any limitation as to the time within which the bequest 
must be accepted? 

"Mr. Fessenden. All I know about it is precisely what appears In the 
resolution itself. It was brought into the committee by the district 
attorney of New York. We had no time to examine it. He said to me 
that it was believed the estate devised would amount to about $300,000. 
I was not aware that there was any litigation about it. 

"Mr. COLLAMER. I understand that the form of the devise is this: 
The property is given first to the United States: if riot accepted by 
them, then to the State of Virginia; and so on.- I suppose that under. 
such a devise the United States ought to manifest their intention to 
receive it in some reasonable time. 1 will ask bow long it is since the 
man died? I do not know, but I think it is within a short time. 

"Mr. GRIMES. About a year, I think. 

"Mr. Collamer. It seems to me that Congress should at the earliest 
session after being informed of the fact manifest its willingness to 
receive the devise or not. Perhaps it might be construed by the 
courts as rejecting it if they did not accept if at the first session 
after they were informed of the fact. Perhaps not. however. I give 
no opinion on that i idea would be thai uc had hdler accept 

it at any rate. 

"Mr. Harris. The Senate, in acting upon this resolution, ought to 
understand the precise position ,>f the property in question. The heirs 
of ('apt. Levy have already commenced a sail in equity for the purpose 
of having this icill declared void. That suit is now pending in the 
courts of New York, and if the Government accept this donation un- 
doubtedly we shall have to take with it a severe litigation in the courts 
of New York in reference to it. I have no objection at all to accept- 
ing it. pu1 it should be understood that the matter is to he litigated, 
and will be litigated, with great severity by the heirs of Capt. Levy. 

" Mi-. DOOLITTLE. I suppose this would be the rule. It is for us to 
determine whether to accept it. and we ought to have a reasonable time 
for that purpose. For the first lime this morning, as I understand, it 
is brought to the atb Qtion of the Committee on Finance and presented 
to the Senate. Now. if we should, under these circumstances, lay it 
over until the next session of Congress, it could not he said that we 
were asking any unreasonable time. * * * 

'• So while the joint resolution in relation to the property de- 
vised to the people of the United Stales by Commodore Levy 
was still pending, and in less than a year, before the United 
States could take steps to accept or refuse the devise, though 
Commodore Levy had plainly directed in his will that his 
executors hold the whole of the property and estate devised 
and bequeathed in their hands until proper steps could be taken 
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by Congress to receive the same and discharge the executors, 

the executors of the will, it seems, brought an action ' to obtain 

a judicial construction of the testator's will ' and to construe 

its meaning. Of course, to you and me, the meaning does not 

seem in doubt at all. But, any way, the case went to the 

court, and there it was decided on the technical ground of ' in- 

definiteness,' in New York general term, November 30, 1SC0, 

that Uriah P. Levy's wish, which was solemnly written in his 

will, must go for nothing, and the outcome of it was that Mon- 

ticello came into the possession of Jeffekson M. Levy, instead 

of the people of the United Stales, to whom it had been left iu 

trust. - ' 

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